Wednesday, January 11, 2006

City to Attempt "End Run" Around Federal Process; Important Meeting at MRCOG on Janaury 12, 2006; Key State and Federal Contact Information

The City has called for a special meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Board (MTB) of the Mid-Region Council of Governments (MRCOG) this Thursday evening, January 12th, at 5:30 p.m. at MRCOG’s office, 809 Copper Avenue NW (public comment is at the beginning of the meeting, sign-up to speak). The City will be arguing to have the 2025 Regional Transportation Plan amended to allow four general-purpose lanes on Montano and/or will be arguing to have Montano removed from the 2025 plan on the basis that it is “not a regionally significant roadway”.

Our coalition continues to urge concerned citizens to express their feelings on this issue to the MTB and the federal transportation authorities (names and contacts below). Our letters and comments at previous MRCOG meetings have made a difference.

Some key talking points include:

1. As MRCOG’s own staff has repeatedly advised the MTB, utilizing Montano as part of a meaningful transit grid that focuses on moving people rather than on moving cars will bring far greater benefits to all of MRCOG’s member cities and counties than will an additional 2 lanes of single-occupancy vehicles on Montano.

2. The ability to use Montano as a transit corridor will be forever lost if the MTB permits the City to re-stripe now (either directly or by removing Montano’s “regionally significant” designation). It is simply unrealistic to accept the City’s legalistic assurances that they would be willing to revisit the issue of making Montano a transit facility at a future date; first, just look at their indifference to public input when it comes to Montano, and second, there aren’t any examples in the United States where general purpose lanes on a overly-congested roadway were taken away and replaced with transit – it simply hasn’t happened and wouldn’t happen on Montano.

3. The City simply cannot argue that in a metropolitan area with limited bridge crossings and with the explosion of growth on the West Side, that Montano is not “regionally significant.” The fact is that Montano is regionally significant, should remain in the 2025 MTP, and the City must be required follow the federally-mandated procedures for obtaining public input prior to amending the Plan. Using the City’s reasoning, we should remove every river crossing except the Interstates and Paseo del Norte from the regional transportation process on the basis of “not significant”.

4. The City’s “come hell or high water” approach to 4-laning Montano ignores that good faith work that citizens from both sides of the river engaged in recently, which presented a series of viable options (including the very realistic idea of using transit on Montano to connect the West Side to the new commuter rail line at Montano and the railroad tracks) that haven’t yet been fully explored and which, according to independent analysis, will do far more to relieve regional transportation congestion than the City’s unimaginative, 4 general-purpose lane proposal. These options deserve to be explored, particularly given the fact that the urgency for additional lanes on Montano will be substantially dissipated with the opening of the new Coors/I-40 interchange (the City and Councilors from the West Side have argued that Montano was "critical" during the Coors/I-40 construction; since that construction is nearly completed, that argument is irrelevant).

5. The City violated the public trust by its failure to follow the federal process originally. The City knew this process was required prior to paving Universe Boulevard in the middle of the night, and they also knew this process was required prior to re-striping Montano in the middle of the night. This violation of the public trust should not be sanctioned by the MTB by allowing the City to pull an end-run around that process now.

Below is a list of the key federal and state contacts who are or may become involved in the resolution of this issue. Please contact eachone of these individuals (and encourage others to as well) to express your concerns. You can also find a list of the MTB members at MRCOG's web site (www.mrcog-nm.gov).

Jean E. MangerRegulatory Project ManagerU.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque District4101 Jefferson Plaza, N.E.Albuquerque, NM 87109-3435(505) 342-3216jean.e.manger@spa02.usace.army.mil(Note: Ms. Manager has the primary responsibility for reviewing and approving or denying the City's request to amend the original 404 permit that limited the bridge span to 2 driving lanes; the City has requested that the Corps amend this permit to allow up to 4 driving lanes)

WE NEED YOUR HELP! If you would like to be included on our mailing list, would like to volunteer to work on one of our subcommittees, or if you’d just like more information and you can't find it on this blog, please contact Steve Cogan, Chairman, at (505) 350-4513 or via email at 4thStreet@integrity.com.

P.S. - Help spread the word that great things are happening in the 4th Street & Montaño Area! Please forward information about this blog to those who might be interested. Thanks!

Our Goals

The 4th Street & Montaño Area Improvement Coalition includes concerned citizens, neighborhood associations and businesses devoted to making the 4th Street and Montaño area a better place to live, work and do business. The Coalition has organized subcommittees to carry out projects to implement the following four community goals, and the Coalition Executive Committee will encourage, assist and support successful, timely completion of both near-term and longer-term goals.

• Residential and business property values increase substantially over time.

Strategies and Objectives

To move toward the four goals that comprise the community vision, the Coalition has established the following near term strategies and objectives.

1. Increase community identity. Our objectives are to:

• Select a name to define our area

• Complete one successful subcommittee project under each of the four community goals. Examples:

• Traffic―advocate for rapid bus and light rail projects

• Identity―hold community festival or other event

• Pathways―evaluate one trailhead project

• Revitalization―host design charrette

• Complete a 5-year plan for all four goals

2. Galvanize political and financial support. Our objectives are to:

• Assure that the City of Albuquerque’s 2005 General Obligation Bond ballot supports substantial 4th Street & Montaño area improvements

• Build on positive relationships to secure additional Federal, State and City appropriations for area improvements

• Actively tell our story to government officials, neighbors, property owners, developers and the media so that they are each prompted to take actions that support our efforts

3. Complete key technical design studies. These include:

• Work with the appropriate government agencies to undertake a comprehensive traffic study of the Montaño and 4th Street corridors and intersection

• Complete a 4th Street & Montaño Area design charrette

• Complete an accurate assessment of existing pathways and their ownership

What Is the Coaliton All About and Why This Blog?

The 4th Street & Montaño Area Improvement Coalition was formed in 2003 by a group of concerned neighbors and business owners in the area bounded by Douglas MacArthur Road to the south, Solar Road to the north, 2nd Street to the east, and Los Poblanos Open Space to the west. We are commited to reversing years of infrastructure neglect and economic decline by transforming this historically and culturally significant region into a “jewel” within the heart of Albuquerque - an area that enhances the quality of life for all Albuquerqueans.

On July 31 and August 21, 2004, the Coaltion, with encouragement and assistance from the City of Albuquerque, brought together over 100 residents, government officials, and business owners in two "visioning workshops." Participants at these workshops framed a Community Vision for the 4th Street & Montaño Area (a .pdf version of the Community Visioning Report may be downloaded from the following site: http://www.cabq.gov/council/communityvisioningreport.html)and clicking on the "Community Visioning Report [pdf]" link. That Vision is the foundation on which the Coalition's ongoing work - including this blog - will be based.

The purpose of this blog is to continue the important exchange of ideas and information that will help make our Community Vision come alive! We encourage you to use this blog to provide input, identify resources, share ideas and give feedback. We will also post information on the blog concerning upcoming Coalition events, City Council meetings of relevance to our Coalition, and other time-sensitive information - so please be sure to bookmark this blog and check back regularly!

We ask that you limit your posts to those topics, ideas, or criticisms that will move our community forward. The 4th Street & Montaño Area Improvement Coalition welcomes input from all perspectives, including those that may challenge or disagree with the ideas being advanced by the Coalition. However, unconstructive, mean-spirited posts are not welcome and will be deleted.